The challenge of creating lighter, more efficient trains without sacrificing strength has long been a focus for the rail industry. Professor Eric Moussiaux, Vice President of technology at Exel Composites, explains how the 'Talent train' Project—a regional train developed by Talbot in Germany—used innovative composite materials to overcome these challenges.
Exel Composites
In 1996, my friend and partner from Techno Composites, Anton Lügering approached me with a groundbreaking opportunity. Talbot, a train manufacturer in Aachen, Germany, had just been acquired by Bombardier. It was developing a new regional train called the Talent, designed with an entire outer body shell manufactured using composite materials.
At the heart of the project was a vision: to build a lightweight regional train, one that could serve as a faster, more efficient mode of transport. But achieving this meant breaking away from the traditional materials—steel and aluminium—that had long been the go-to options for train manufacturing.
The Talent project allowed us to prove that composites could deliver the strength and durability required for modern trains. The challenge was to have a Talent train on the tracks in just 15 months.
Redefining train manufacturing
We delivered our prototypes to Talbot in six months. The pultruded profiles we developed were innovative, strong, and light. Along with moulded panels in between the windows, these materials would go on to form the exterior of the Talent train.
One of the most exciting aspects of this project was the adhesive bonding of composite body shells to an aluminium structure—an entirely new approach for the rail industry at the time. Despite the challenges of meeting unclear fire regulations for composites, our team found the right chemistry, technically and in our collaboration with Techno-Composites and Talbot.
The final profiles were manufactured with pultrusion in Exel’s Oudenaarde factory in Belgium while Techno-Composites, based in Haselünne, Germany, took care of the machining, bonding, painting and kitting of the profiles into ready-to-be-installed parts that were delivered to Talbot’s Aachen factory. Fast forward to March 1998 when I stood among a crowd of hundreds in Aachen, Germany, for the roll-out of the first Talent train.
For over a decade, more than 800 Talent trains rolled out of the factory, splitting evenly between diesel and electric engines. These trains, running throughout Europe and Canada, proved the long-term viability of composites. Beyond being lightweight, composite profiles offered something steel couldn’t— flexibility, precision and stability in manufacturing. With composites, we achieved tighter tolerances and better shape stability, reducing production costs and assembly time.
The legacy: composites prove their long-lasting performance
Ten years later, in May 2024, I had the pleasure to meet Annemarie Kwade, the former head of Talbot’s buying team in Germany, also joined by Gerrit Mann, current owner and managing director of Techno-Composites. As we watched those same Talent trains glide into the Weisweiler station, it was clear that the decision to work together and embrace composites had been the right one. Moreover, Mrs Kwade explained that the Talent customers have found the composite sidewalls easy to repair with no need for spare parts.
The greatest potential for composite materials is in the outer bodies of trams and regional trains. In this sector, lightweight construction is crucial due to the frequent starts and stops. While weight reduction used to be primarily a matter of operational costs, today it is a central factor in achieving a lower carbon footprint in public transport.
The story of the Talent train is more than just a technical success—it’s a symbol of how far we can push the boundaries of materials science to create something truly innovative.